HDA FACULTY
Megan Shimada - HDA Instructor
Brittanee Lujan is HDA's lead competition teacher. She has been with HDA since 2013. Brittanee has been dancing for over 25 years studying with various choreographers giving her multiple opportunities to dance at the professional level. She studied dance at West Coast School of the Arts, Millennium and the Edge. She attended Orange County School of the Arts and is a graduate of Mater Dei high school where she was a varsity song leader for four years and captain for her senior year. Brittanee had the pleasure of dancing for Disney for several years. She has coached the song teams at Edison High School, Aliso Viejo High School and is now the head coach for the 1 dance team in the nation at OCC. Her choreography and teams have taken several titles and overalls over the years. She has been the lead competition teacher for Hudson Dance Academy for 10 years. Brittanee is highly sought after for her choreography all around Southern California, and has received various awards for dancing and choreography.
Megan began her dance training at The Dance Center in Costa Mesa at the age of four. Right away, she began Cecchetti Ballet training as well as competing in dance competitions year round in all genres. At age 12, Megan attended her first summer intensive in New York City with the Joffrey Ballet. Megan continued her Ballet training at Marine Dance Theatre, Cecchetti Ballet Intensives, Ballet Pacifica, and the American Ballet Theatre New York and Orange County. She attended Orange County High School of the Arts and Newport Harbor High School where she performed and competed in many genres of dance. At age 17, Megan joined the thirteen-time national champion Orange Coast College dance team where she won the National Title in Contemporary and Hip Hop. At age 18, Megan danced on the Laker Girls Squad for one year. She then attended Loyola Marymount University where she completed her bachelor’s degree in dance. Over the years, Megan has choreographed for Newport Harbor High School, Orange County High School of the Arts, Legacy Dance Academy, Westchester Dance Academy, Newport Dance Theater, St. Hedwig Catholic School, Los Alamitos Recreation Services, and Hudson Dance Academy. At Hudson Dance Academy, Megan is currently teaching ballet, contemporary, jazz, and lyrical.
Rachel MacDonald - HDA Instructor
Natalie Jameson has been an Orange County competitive choreographer, dance instructor & coach for over 17 years, where she’s honed her craft at Dance Dynamics, PCAD, Oceanside Dance Academy, Dancing Images, Richter Academy, Laguna Dance Theater, and many more. Natalie trained in the commercial dance department at OCSA, winning lyrical dancer of the year her senior year, continuing as a dance major at Chapman University. She is currently a guest choreographer for TDC in Carmel, CA. She has created pieces for high schools such as Mater Dei HS, SJHHS, Esperanza HS & MVHS. Miss Jameson continues to judge for high school dance team auditions and competitions. Natalie was a Certified Move Competition judge in 2015. Then the tabulator for Revolution Talent Competition. Having won multiple choreography awards, choreographing is her biggest passion. She headed her own pre-professional dance company, Jameson & Co, created in 2016. In 2021, she started Jameson Dance Company for competitive dancers ages 12 and up. She cannot wait to share her love of dance with the next generation!
Type your paragraph here.
Lauren Hanson - HDA Instructor
Marissa Skates - HDA Instructor
Madison Romine - HDA Instructor
Megan Shimada - HDA Instructor
Ms. Hudson has had an extensive career in dance, teaching and choreographing for over 18 years. Ms. Hudson has trained and studied all forms of dance including ballet, jazz, tap,modern, lyrical and hip hop. She achieved her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and Dance Performance from Loyola Marymount University, sequentially earning her Masters of Business Administration from LMU as well. Ms. Hudson began dancing professionally at the age of 17 touring Southern California with a hip hop company. Ms. Hudson co-founded Kumba Beatz, a hip hop company, for which she danced, choreographed and managed while attending LMU. You can still find the company performing and thriving on the campus today!
Ms. Hudson has been the Director and owner of one of the most successful dance studios in Orange County for over 10 years. In 2020, Hudson Dance Academy won Best of Fountain Valley for education. Ms. Hudson's students have won 1st Overall at numerous competitions including Starbound, KAR, Showstoppers, Thunderstruck, Headliners, and Rainbow. Her students have worked across the industry with companies such as Nickelodeon, Sears, Latin AMA's, Puma, Fidelity, McDonald's, A4 Sporting Goods and Little Tykes! Hudson Dance Academy students have gone on to gain acceptance into some of the best college dance programs, like Chapman, UCI, Pace, Loyola Marymount and Hofstra University. Many of her serious students have gone on to acquire highly sought after talent/dance managers and agents in the industry with groups such as MSA, Youth Talent Connection, LA Models, T&T Talent Management. Ms. Hudson's choreography has been performed at the Hollywood Christmas Parade, NCAA basketball games, ABC 7 morning news, and various artist stage shows.
Ms. Hudson is also currently working in an academic setting with the Academy for the Performing Arts, teaching and directing Jazz ensemble.
Ms. Hudson has an undying passion for dance and loves to instruct and watch her students grow in the craft, as she pushes her students to achieve their best and work at their highest level.
Lauren has been dancing since the age of 8 and began her journey with Hudson at the age of 10. She has trained and competed in various styles including tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, and contemporary. She has competed with Hudson since the age of 11 and has worked with various choreographers and faculty members, including Sam Nelson and Quinton Peron. She graduated from Huntington Beach High School and attended their Academy for the Performing Arts. While there, Lauren was involved in APA’s jazz ensemble for 2 years. She received the Best Jazz Dancer Award as well as the Bright Spot award from this program. Lauren is attending Chapman University and continuing her dance journey with a minor in dance. She enjoys sharing her passion for dance with performing along with teaching. Type your paragraph here.
Rachel began her dance career at the age of 3 at Southland Ballet Academy in Huntington Beach, CA. There she trained in ballet, jazz, hip-hop, tap, and character. She continued her performance arts in high school years at the Academy of the Performing Arts in Dance, Musical Theater, and MMET-Pop as a vocalist. While in the APA program she studied under Andrea Taylor, Tim Nelson, Marie Hoffman, Jamie Knight, and Diane Makus. Rachel’s role in the APA Dance department included the Modern and Ensemble as well as the HBHS Dance team, directed by Tiffany Hudson and Brande Dunn. She furthered her leadership skills as the Dance team Captain in both her Senior and Junior years. At the age of 16 she discovered her love of creating and began teaching and choreographing. In her time in APA she received awards such as the Tower Award for Dance, Most Valuable Dancer - Dance Team, and Most Inspirational Choreographer. Since then she received a Performing Arts scholarship and attended Adelphi University in Garden City, New York as a Dance Major. There she studied ballet and different modern techniques including Graham, Taylor, and Horton. Her teachers included Frank Augustyn, Orion Duckstein, Oliver Tobin, Flávio Salizar, and Marnie Wood. There she joined the AU Evolution hip hop team where she performed for university events, choreographed, and competed in New York City. Now she continues her dance career teaching in Southern California and is a certified Pilates and Yoga instructor.
Brittanee Lujan - Director of Jazz
Natalie Jameson - HDA Instructor
ZIVA raised in the South Bay started her training at the “Debbie Allen Dance Academy” for 10 years. ZIVA had her first professional job at the age of 12 years and started dancing with well known artist(s) from the age of 16 to 24. ZIVA feels fortunate to be trained professionally in almost every style yet her passions lie in Hip hop and Contemporary. The style she is known for is “Hip Hop Ticking Animation”. ZIVA has taught all ages (3 years to adults) loves teaching to inspire and build confidence in others. Ziva is now on tour with “KC & the Sunshine Band” while being a part time dance teacher for the youth. Type your paragraph here.